100 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-3323 – (925) 671-5270 www.pleasanthillca.org
March __, 2026
The Honorable José Luis Solache
California State Assembly
1020 N St. Rm. 5110
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Letter of Support for Assembly Bill 1708 (Solache)
Dear Assembly Member Solache,
On behalf of the City Council of the City of Pleasant Hill, I write in support of your legislation, AB 1708, which would create a new pathway for cities with populations under 300,000 to access state homelessness funding.
Since 2019, the state’s flagship homelessness grant program, the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) Grant program, has provided direct funding to cities with populations over 300,000, all 58 counties, and the 44 Continuums of Care (CoC) across California.
This structure has left most cities without a consistent pathway to access HHAP funding, despite investing significant General Fund resources to prevent and reduce homelessness in their communities. AB 1708 would address this by creating a new opportunity for the 469 California cities with populations under 300,000 to apply for HHAP funding through their CoC.
Specifically, AB 1708 would require CoCs, before allocating funding to other subrecipients in their region, to accept applications for 30 days only from cities with populations under 300,000.
This measure would strike a reasonable balance between access and accountability, requiring interested cities to commit to regionally coordinated action plans and adhere to state housing and encampment policies.
AB 1708 would also require CoCs to prioritize applications from cities that have existing partnerships with non-profits, other cities, or have already leveraged state and local funding for existing projects in their communities. This would ensure that limited state resources are deployed efficiently and deliver measurable results in reducing homelessness.
As a city with a population of around 35,000, Pleasant Hill would benefit from additional funds for small to medium cities. Homelessness is consistently one of the top concerns of Pleasant Hill residents. Although we partner with Contra Costa County’s Coordinated Outreach, Referral, Engagement, or “CORE,” program to help address homelessness, additional funds are necesesary to combat addiction and offer supportive services for the unhoused community.
As the Governor and the Legislature consider future investments in the HHAP program, it is important to ensure the program is structured to maximize its reach and impact. Providing all cities with a pathway to participate in HHAP would strengthen regional collaboration and ensure state resources are deployed where they can most effectively serve unhoused Californians.
Local governments are best positioned to identify the programs and partnerships that will have the greatest impact in our communities. AB 1708 recognizes this, creating a clearly defined opportunity for all cities to compete for state resources, so that communities of all sizes can have a meaningful role in the state’s homelessness response efforts.
For these reasons, the City of Pleasant Hill is pleased to support AB 1708 (Solache).
Sincerely,
Zac Shess, Mayor
Andrei Obolenskiy, Vice Mayor
Bella La, Sue Noack, Amanda Szakats, Councilmembers
City of Pleasant Hill
cc. Sen. Tim Grayson
Assemblymember Anamarie Avila – Farias
Samantha Brightman, East Bay Division of the League of Cities